Gade Valley Harriers impress on busy weekend of action

It was Another busy weekend for the Gade Valley Harriers, with athletes competing at the Finchley 20, the Milton Keynes Half Marathon and the Saturday morning parkruns.
Gade Valley Harriers Andy Bishop and Dave Wise were in action at the Finchley 20Gade Valley Harriers Andy Bishop and Dave Wise were in action at the Finchley 20
Gade Valley Harriers Andy Bishop and Dave Wise were in action at the Finchley 20

A team of 21 Harriers took to the streets of Ruislip, North London, to tackle the Finchley 20 – the longest running 20-mile race in the UK – as part of their marathon training.

First back for the Harriers was Mikey Ferris in 58th place in an impressive 2:12:05.

He was followed by Steve Newing 2:31:27, Gemma Bitaraf 2:33:12, Andy Bishop 2:40:43, Dave Wise 2:43:58, Laura Sharma 2:55:06, Tracy Aldridge-Jones 2:55:58, Russ Bailey 2:58:02 (PB), Dean Kidd 3:00:50, Andrew Watt 3:06:41, Joanna Kid 3:14:06, Odette Messenger 3:39:19, Karis Thomas 3:41:53, Tanya Saunders 3:41:53 and Peter Tucker 3:54:15 (PB).

Elsewhere, the Milton Keynes Half Marathon saw Simon Geary and Luca Ramusino flying the GVH colours in the 13.1-mile route which started and finished at the Xscape Centre.

Geary clocked an impressive time of 1:31:20 for a new PB, while Ramusino set a PB of 2:29:45 in his first ever half marathon.

Meanwhile, the parkruns saw a good turnout from the Harriers, with entrants at three different events.

Five Harriers were competing at Cassiobury Park, with Anthony James storming home in second place overall in a new PB of 19:01.

Simon Wallis was hot on his heels in sixth place in 19:57, while Johnny Broom took 16th in 21:17. Broom was followed by team-mates Emma Nash in 25:27 and Carol Skates in 31:58.

Tring parkrun had Tom North and Lesley Jugoo competing for GVH, with North coming home first in 22:53, and Jugoo cruising home in 35:39.

Guy Wollett and Vince Ellerby donned the Harriers colours to take on the Black Park parkrun, where Wollett came eighth in 18:32 and Ellerby was 19th in 19:46.

The Harriers are hoping for good weather on Sunday, March 22 for their third and final Marathon Training Run of the season.

The 20-mile run attracts around 500 runners from all over the country and is open to everyone.

Starting and finishing at Boxmoor Cricket Club, the runners set off at 9.30am before heading back for tea, coffee and cakes.

The Harriers welcome all runners, regardless of whether they belong to a running club or not. If you would like to join the run, please arrive in plenty of time to register, pay the £5 entry fee, and change. More details can be found by clicking here

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